Sudhir Chella Rajan | IIT Madras (original) (raw)

Papers by Sudhir Chella Rajan

Fuel and Energy Abstracts, Sep 1, 2006

regarded as a positive one, and often described as significant. In order to improve the quality o... more regarded as a positive one, and often described as significant. In order to improve the quality of life by means of urban green, decision makers need better information regarding the quantity and quality of urban green available in their city. The aim of this paper was to develop and evaluation framework that can be used in the assessment of urban green spaces by means of criteria linked to the notion of quality of life. This evaluation framework is built upon the multicriteria analysis method flag model and will be demonstrated by means of a case study. In this case study, the Leipzig 'district park Reudnitz' will be evaluated against a set of benchmark values related to policy objectives.

Asian journal of social science, Jun 1, 2023

Social Science Research Network, Jul 11, 2007

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, Jan 18, 2022

Migration is frequently driven by the need to improve social and economic opportunities or to fle... more Migration is frequently driven by the need to improve social and economic opportunities or to flee conditions of political insecurity. The increased risks of environmental hazards, including climate change, have intensified the push to migrate. Nevertheless, the relation between climate change and forced displacement is not direct and is complicated by globalization, local ecological conditions, and deteriorating domestic institutions. Significantly, the muddy situation means the question “did this person migrate because of climate change?” may never be fully answered. On the basis of ethical arguments, in this Perspective article we propose a framework with both strong and mild responses to address cross‐border migration. The strong version acknowledges that it is impossible to separate out fully the climate‐induced causes of migration from others and using climate attribution studies for this purpose is potentially harmful. This implies designing an open door policy for asylum seekers as the impacts of climate change unfold, bearing in mind that host countries having the most responsibility for climate change ought to be the most welcoming to them. In the mild version, the international community designates vulnerable zones, areas where significant land area is susceptible to overwhelming loss and damage. Such countries would include most small‐island states, those that are severely drought‐prone and those with substantial low‐lying deltaic areas. In both the mild and strong versions, asylum seekers are provided rights of free passage to host countries under nonrefoulement, so that they are not forced to return to their unliveable or unviable home countries and face continuing harm.

The Enigma of Automobility

Asian Journal of Social Science

Impact of changes in the transparency of infrastructure procurement and delivery on infrastructur... more Impact of changes in the transparency of infrastructure procurement and delivery on infrastructure access, costs, efficiency, price and quality: a systematic review of the evidence in developing countries.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Nov 2, 2022

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Mar 31, 2023

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 1996

Between 1991 and 1993, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) selected 1,115 vehicles from all... more Between 1991 and 1993, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) selected 1,115 vehicles from all across the South Coast Air Basin to evaluate the effectiveness of the state's existing biennial motor vehicle Inspection/Maintenance (I/M) or Smog Check program. The vehicles were chosen to represent the population of cars that "should fail" properly conducted inspections. The cars were emissions-tested at baseline and sent undercover to licensed I/M garages throughout the basin. Federal Test Procedure (FIT) emissions were measured again for cars that were repaired. In the second year of the study, the vehicles that could be reproduced were tested at the CARB to measure the level of emissions deterioration and any underhood changes in emission control systems. In the third year, the cycle of emissions testing and undercover inspections and repair was repeated. This paper uses data from the study to explore the relationships between super emitting vehicles (defined here as vehicles whose emissions are several times California certification standards) and diagnostics and repair of their underhood emissions control systems. Also examined is their appearance and improvement during a three-year period that includes two cycles of inspection and repair. An important finding is that once normalized to account for differences in certification standards, the super emitting vehicles do not have a unique signature in terms of their underhood emission control system failure modes, mileage, or age, when compared with the average vehicle expected to fail a Smog Check inspection. However, they are more likely to be identified, diagnosed, and repaired IMPLICATIONS There is ample evidence to suggest that a small fraction of the in-use motor vehicle fleet consists of excessively emitting cars. Previous studies have commented upon the need to identify these vehicles and subject them to "enhanced" procedures of inspection, diagnosis and repair. The results of this study suggest that this may be more of a challenge to realize than originally envisaged. Quite apart from the difficulty of identifying them on the basis of mileage, age, underhood diagnostics information or even no-load emissions measurements, it is doubtful whether super emitting vehicles could always be repaired effectively, for even thorough inspections may not provide clear diagnostic information for further action. Therefore, a more careful and disaggregated approach to addressing the problem of excessively emitting vehicles is warranted. effectively than other vehicles, although they continue to reappear over time.

Chella Rajan is a Senior Fellow at the Tellus Institute, where he leads the Program on Global Pol... more Chella Rajan is a Senior Fellow at the Tellus Institute, where he leads the Program on Global Politics and Institutions. His research has centered on the interactions among social, political, technological and environmental factors relating to sustainable development. His current work focuses on the conditions for the formation of a global political community with a common identity. His numerous publications include a book on automobility and environmental policy. Rajan holds a doctorate in environmental science and engineering from the

GTI is a global network of engaged thinkers and thoughtful activists who are committed to rigorou... more GTI is a global network of engaged thinkers and thoughtful activists who are committed to rigorously assessing and creatively imagining a great transition to a future of enriched lives, human solidarity, and a healthy planet. GTI’s message of hope aims to counter resignation and pessimism, and help spark a citizens movement for carrying the transition forward. This paper series elaborates the global challenge, future visions, and strategic directions. GTI Paper Series

Journal of Political Ecology, 2020

The landscape of the Attappady Hills in the Nilgiri range of Kerala, South India, is home to seve... more The landscape of the Attappady Hills in the Nilgiri range of Kerala, South India, is home to several Adivasis or indigenous peoples and settler communities, and has had intermittent cycles of agrarian crisis and sufficiency, according to colonial accounts from the early 20th century. Since the 1970s, rapid sedentarization of hunting-gathering communities, expanding capitalist markets, conservation projects, and sizable development interventions have contributed to agrarian and nutritional distress. There is a simultaneous process of adopting capitalist market forms and holding on to communal structures, along with manifestations of patriarchy, and resistance through gender struggles within the household and through community mobilization. Adivasis in the region seem to be undergoing processes of being simultaneously alienated from the forest and rediscovering connections to their land and the non-human world. By highlighting the material aspects with relational ecological ties and p...

Each World Resources Institute report represents a timely, scholarly treatment of a subject of pu... more Each World Resources Institute report represents a timely, scholarly treatment of a subject of public concern. WRI takes responsi-bility for choosing the study topics and guaranteeing its authors and researchers freedom of inquiry. It also solicits and responds to the guidance of advisory panels and expert reviewers. Unless otherwise stated, however, all the interpretation and fi ndings set forth in WRI publications are those of the authors.

Why resort to theory at all? William James has an answer which is helpful: "theories are ins... more Why resort to theory at all? William James has an answer which is helpful: "theories are instruments and hooks to interpretation, not answers to enigmas, in which we can rest… Pragmatism unstiffens all our theories, limbers them up and sets each one at work." (James 1907). Our best guess is that allowing for pluralism, eclecticism, "making do" with the materials we find, and sharing them widely in conversation might actually give us productive results. At least, we can all claim as our common legacy a vast stock of conversational knowledge since antiquity. If nothing else, it sets up a form of democratic practice, which can at least give us the reassurance of having tried.